Machine for controlling railway traffic governing apparatus



Sept. 15, 1931. w. c. M WHIRTER 1,323,058

MACHINE FOR CONTROLLING RAILWAY TRAFFIC GOVERNING APPARATUS lli INVENTORY W Whb'tE/ Mg ATTORNEY.

Sept. 15, 1931. w. c. M WHIRTER 1,823,058

MACHINE FOR CONTROLLING RAILWAY TRAFFIC GOVERNING APPARATUS Filed March 4, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR-J fig. 2. mamaw/wwi, BY

H 1 ATTORNEY.

Patented Sept. 15, 1931 UNlTED STATES PATENT OFFHCE WILLIAM C. McWHIR-TER, OF WILKINSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE UNION SWITCH & SIGNAL COMPANY, OF S'WISSVALE, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA MACHINE FOR CONTROLLING R-AILVJAY TRAFFIC GOVERNING APPARATUS Application filed March 4, 1931. Serial No. 520,023.

My invention relates to machines for controlling railway traffic governing apparatus, and particularly to machines of the type com prising levers for the mechanical operation of traflic governing devices.

One object of my invention is the provision, in machines of this type, of electrically controlled means for positively locking a mechanical lever against movement from either of two positions until such means is released.

I will describe one form of machine embodying my invention, and will then point out the novel features thereof in claims.

In the accompanying drawings, 1 is an end view, partly sectioned, showing an interlocking machine lever provided with electric locking mechanism embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view of the electric lockin mechanism illustrated in Fig. 1 drawn to a somewhat larger scale. Fig. 3 is a top View of the locking mechanism shown in Fig. 2 with certain of the parts broken away to better illustrate the construction. Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line IV-IV of Fig. 3.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts in all four views.

Referring first to Fig. 1. the reference character 1 designates the framework of me chanical interlocking machine of the well known Saxby & Farmer variety in which a manually operable lever 2. constructed in accordance with the usual and well known practice. is mounted for oscillation around a horizontal axis, indicated at 3 in the drawings. The lever 2 is provided with a latch 4 which is adapted to cooperate with a latch plate 5 for retaining the lever again-st accidental displacement in the extreme positions of its stroke. and this latch operates a rocker link 6. one end of which is connected with a crank 7. This crank is arranged to oscillate. aborizontal shaft 8 which shaft. in turn. actuates the usual mechanical interlocking, indicated at 9 in the drawings. for securing' the proper cooperation between the lever 2 and the other levers of the machine. Rigidly fastened to the lower end of the lever 2 is the usual tail lever 10 which. as here shown, is connected.

0 by means of a link 11, with the upper end of a locking bar 12 comprising part of locking mechanism embodying my invention, this locking mechanism being designated in gen eral by the reference character A.

Referring now also to Figs. 2, 3 and 4, the locking mechanism A in the form here shown, comprises a suitable casing 13 which is secured to one of the feet of the framework 1 by means of a bracket 14. The casing 13 is provided with two vertical slots 21 and 30. The slot 21 slidably receives the lower end of the locking bar 12 previously described, while the slot 30- slidably receives the lower end of a control bar 27. The upper end of the control bar 27 is connected with the righthand end of the rocker link 6 by means of an adjustable link 31. The locking bar 12 is formed with two spaced notches 15 and 16,

and cooperating with these notches is a locking dog 17 by means of which the lever 2 is at times locked in one or the other of two positions, as will be explained more fully hereinafter. As best seen in Figs. 2 and 3, the locking dog 17 is pivotally supported intermediate its ends on a pin 19 carried by bifurcations formed on the arm 18 of a crank 18', in such manner that the dog is substantially balanced on thepin 19, and the dog is maintained in a substantially horizontal:

plane by virtue of its balanced design, and by means of a suitable guide 20 which receives the right-hand end of the dog. The crank 18, in turn, is pivoted on a pin 22 secured to the casing 13, and the free arm 18* thereof is pivotally connected with the lower end of the plunger 23 of an electromagnet 24. The electromagnet 24,, is secured to the upper side of the casing 13.

Cooperating with the left-hand end of thed'og 17 is a push bar 25. The push bar 25 is slidably mounted in a suitable guide 26, and is provided at one end with a pin 28 which cooperates with a cam slot 29 formed in the left-hand side of the control bar 27 as best seen in Fig. 4.

Located in a compartment 13 formed in the right hand end of the casing 13 is a circuit controller B which may be used to control the supply of current to the electromagnet 24. As here shown, this circuit controller comprises a fixed contact finger 32, and a movable contact finger 33 which is insulated from the finger 32. The movable finger 33 normally occupies a position in which it is out of engagement with the fixed finger 32, but is arranged to be moved into engagement with the finger 32 to close a contact 3233, under certain conditions which will be described hereinafter, by means of a push rod 34 which is suitably insulated from contact finger 33. The push rod 34 is slidably mounted in suitable guides formed in the lower part of the casing 13, and is provided at its left hand end with a pin 35 which cooperates with a cam slot 36 formed in the right hand side of the control bar 27, as viewed in Fig. 4. The right hand end of the rod 34 is smaller than the body of the rod, and this end projects through a suitable slot formed in an insulating block 37 riveted to the lower end of the movable contact finger 33. Two pins 38 extend through the rod 34 on opposite sides of the block 37, thereby connecting the rod with the block, so that'the movable finger 33 will follow the movement of the rod.

The electromagnet 24 in addition to being controlled by the circuit controller B may be controlled by any other device which it is desired shall impose a restriction upon the movement of the lever 2.

As shown in the drawings the lever 2 occupies its normal extreme position and the latch 4 is released. The latch therefore engages the latch plate 5, thus preventing accidental displacement of the lever. Furthermore, since the latch is released, the rocker link 6 is rotated to the end of its travel in a counter-clockwise direction, and the control bar 27 is therefore held in its uppermost position. With the control bar in its uppermost position, push bar 25 occupies its extreme right hand position, and push rod 34 is moved to its extreme left hand position in which contact 32-33 of circuit controller B is open. Magnet 24 is therefore deenergized. The parts are so proportioned that notch 15 is opposite the dog 17 under these conditions, as illustrated in Fig. 2, and the dog is therefore forced into and held in engagement with the notch both by the weight of the plunger 23 of electromagnet 24, and bv the force of the latch spring acting through the rocker link 6, control bar 27, and push bar 25.

I will now assume that the operator wishes to move the lever 2to its reverse position. To do this, he first disengages the latch 4 from the latch plate 5 by operating the latch handle. This rotates the rocker link 6 in a clockwise direction through approximately half of its stroke. and hence, moves cont ol bar 27 downwardly a corresponding distance. The downward movement of the control bar moves the push bar 25 to the left far enough to permit thedog 17 to be withdrawn from the notch 15 in the locking bar 12, and also moves the push rod 34 to the right far enough so that contact 32-33 of circuit controller B becomes closed. As a result, if the device which it is desired shall impose a restriction upon the movement of the lever then occupies the proper position to allow the lever 2 to be thrown, magnet 24 will become energized, and plunger 23 will rise, so that dog 17 will be withdrawn from notch 15, thereby unlocking the lever; The operator may then throw the lever to its reverse position. When the lever has reached its reverse position, the locking bar 12 will have moved downwardly to the position in which the notch 16 is opposite the dog 17. If latch 4 is then released, rocker link 6 will be rotated in a clockwise direction to the end of its stroke,andthe control bar 27 Will therefore be moved toits lowermost position. During this latter movement of the control bar, push bar 25 is forced to the right, and contact 3233 of circuit controller B is opened by push rod 34. The opening of contact 32-33 deenergies the electromagnet 24, and plunger 23 then drops under the influence of gravity. As a result, dog 17 is forced into engagement with notch 16 both by the movement of push bar 25, and by the Weight of the plunger 23 acting through crank 18. V'Vhen the dog 17"9 engages the notch 16, the lever 2 is locked in its extreme reverse position, and cannot be moved from this position until latch 4 is released and electromagnet 24 again becomes energized. When the lever is to be restored to its normal extreme position, the operation is just the reverse of that described, and will be readily understood from an inspection of the drawings Without further description.

It will be apparent that if the electromag net 24 does not become energized when the latch 4 is released, the dog 17 will remain in the notch which it previously occupied, and the lever 2 cannot be thrown.

One advantage of locking mechanism embodying my invention is that since the dog 17 is operatively connected with the plunger 23 of the electromagnet 24 in the manner described, friction between the operating posts is reduced to a minimum, with the result that the amount of electrical ener y which must be supplied to the electromagnet to reliably operate the dog, is reduced to a minimum. Anotheradvantage of locking mechanism embodying my invention is that it is positive in action.

Still another advantage of locking mechanism embodying my invention is that it is simple to manufacture, and may be attached to interlocking machines of the type described which have previously been built.

Although I have herein shown and described only one form of machine embodying my invention, it is understood that various changes and modifications may be made therein within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In an interlocking machine comprising a mechanical lever, a latch for said lever, a rocker link controlled by said latch, a control bar controlled by said rocker link and provided with a cam slot, a push bar provided with means which cooperates with said cam slot for operating said push bar, a locking bar operatively connected with said lever and provided with a notch, a dog adapted to enter said notch for at times preventing movement of said lever, an electromagnet, and means controlled jointly by said push bar and said electrolnagnet for controlling said dog.

2. In an interlocking machine comprising a mechanical lever, a latch for said lever, a control bar operated by said latch and provided with two cam slots, a push bar provided with means cooperating with one of said cam slots for operating said push bar in response to operation of said control bar, a push rod provided with means cooperating with the remaining slot for op erating said push rod in response to operation of said control bar, a circuit controller operated by said push rod, an electromagnet controlled by said circuit controller, a looking bar connected with said lever and provided with a notch, and a dog adapted to enter said notch for at times preventing movement of said lever, said dog being controlled by said push bar and by said electromagnet.

3. In an interlocking machine comprisin a mechanical lever, a latch for said lever, a control bar operated by said latch and provided with two cam slots, a locking bar operatively connected with said lever and provided with two spaced notches, an electromagnet provided with a plunger, a pivoted bell crank having one arm thereof connected with said plunger, a dog pivotally attached to the other arm of said bell crank in such manner that when said electromagnet is deenergized said dog is biased by the weight of said plunger to a position in which said dog normally enters one or the other of said notches, a push bar provided with means cooperating with one of said cam slots in such manner that the movement of said dog out of either of said notches is at times prevented by said push bar until said control bar is operated by operation of said latch, a push rod provided with means cooperating with the remaining slot in said control bar in such manner that operation of said control bar operates said push rod, and a circuit controller controlled by said push rod for controlling said electromagnet.

4. In a locking mechanism for interlocking machines, in combination, a locking bar provided with a notch, an electrically controlled plunger, a pivoted crank operated by said plunger, and a dog pivotally attached intermediate its ends to said crank in such manner that said dog is substantially balanced about its supporting axis and arranged to be moved into and out of engagement with said notch in response to operation of said crank by said plunger.

5. In a locking mechanism for interlocking machines, in combination, a locking bar provided with a notch, an electrically controlled plunger, a pivoted crank operated by said plunger, and a dog pivotally attached intermediate its ends to said crank in such manner that said dog is substantially balanced about its supporting aXis and arranged to be moved into and out of engagement with said notch in response to operation of said crank by said plunger, and other means for moving said dog into engagement with said notch.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

WILLIAM G. MGWHIRTER. 

